Joan Kim’s unstable childhood bounced her
between North Korea, Manchuria and South
Korea. She spent little time on the soil her family
occupied for two millennia as the communists
forced her father to give up the generations-old
family farm.
Joan didn’t return to North Korea for another 48
years, when she was given the rare opportunity
to visit her two older brothers in 1992 after
being separated for nearly five decades. Joan
finally had a place to call home when she and
her husband bought a house in Centralia,
Washington, when she was 40. Her daughter,
Cindy Ryu, is now a member of the
Washington State Legislature.